Tips for a great time in Washington DC?

Parent Cafe
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<p>When I knew that my friends and I would be going to NYC in 2006, I printed out threads on CC in which CC posters laid out their ideal weekend in NYC. We followed a number of the suggestions (restaurant recommendations, sights to see, how to get theater tickets. etc.) and had a most marvelous time!</p>

<p>Now these same friends are going to Washington DC/Jamestown/ Williamsburg at the end of June (alas, without me) and wondered if my wonderful friends at CC had any suggestions for them. </p>

<p>So, CC friends, any tips to give my friends on having an ideal time in Washington DC, etc?</p>

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<p>As a repeat visitor last summer, I took the tour of the Library of Congress. It is not as crowded as some other sites and the building is stunning! It is just next to the Supreme Court and across the street from the Capitol.</p>

<p>You’re right that CC provides great tips - I just returned from a trip abroad and printed out advice on Germany which proved to be very helpful!</p>

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<p>Take a tour of Congress, in session or out – you may need to investigate the rules for entrance, as they change all the time, but when we went last year we saw many senators and well-known reps milling about, talking in the halls, and making deals on the steps. Even if they aren’t in session, it’s worthwhile to see the beauty of the building and the chambers where our government works. The chambers themselves are much smaller than they look on C-Span.</p>

<p>I’d skip the White House tour. It’s interesting but you have to register way in advance and they don’t show you nearly as much as they used to. </p>

<p>Also find time to ‘get off the Mall’. There are many small museums and exhibitions around town that don’t get the attention that the Smithsonian does. The Smithsonian is terrific but there’s the National Center for Women in the Arts, the Spy Museum (a must) and the Newseum. Whatever your friends may find interesting, they’ll have it in D.C.</p>

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<p>In Washington, I second the Library of Congress. There’s MUCH more to it than waiting in line to see the Declaration of Independence. Exhibits throughout, film archives, it was one of my favorite spots. Just know that there can be quite a wait just to get in-- maybe a good bet for first thing in the AM (though that probably applies to all the popular sites). Check with the hotel to see if they might have any admissions offers for the various sites.</p>

<p>Ford’s Theater-- the exhibit downstairs is always open, and very interesting. The theater itself is still in use today, so is closed at certain times.</p>

<p>The Holocaust Museum-- moving, and very well done. As a parent, I had a tough time getting through parts of it, though. </p>

<p>Air Space Museum-- impressive, even for the technologically impaired.</p>

<p>The Smithsonian-- unfortunately, the Museum of American History was closed when we visited this time. I recall it being my favorite one. If they’re familiar with Museum of Natural History in NY, the Smithsonian’s probably won’t seem all that different.</p>

<p>We were disappointed not to make it to the Spy Museum.</p>

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<p>Will be in Washington DC, for a 3 day stop over, before proceeding to Charlottesville, to drop our DD, at UVa. We haven’t been to DC before. Any help with regard to choice of hotel accommodation (not too pricey:), and a plan for sight seeing will be of great help.</p>

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<p>lspf71 – Are you getting Library of Congress and The National Archives mixed? The Dec. is at the Archives. The Library is on the other side of the mall, up by the Congressional office building and is 19th century domed extravagance while the archives are more the “We stole this look from Greece” style.</p>

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<p>

I second this. I went with my history class sophomore year, and it was incredibly powerful.</p>

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<p>Diagonally across the street from the spy museum is a restaurant that served one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. I think it was this one: Zaytina It served mediterranean/Turkish/Greek type meze/tapas (small dishes). <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=1079106[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=1079106&lt;/a&gt; Something else fun to do is to eat (if you like spicy) at an Ethiopian restaurant in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. My parents used to frequent The Red Sea. <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=792246[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=792246&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>My favorite museum of all in DC is The Phillips Gallery. A nice collection of paintings in an old house, including Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. <a href=“http://www.phillipscollection.org/html/lbp.html[/url]”>http://www.phillipscollection.org/html/lbp.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>ellenemope, my H and I recent were in Williamsburg - we’ve been there more than a dozen times! My first suggestion is for your friend to have a look at their very comprehensive website (if she hasn’t already done so):</p>

<p><a href=“Colonial Williamsburg | The World's Largest Living History Museum”>http://www.history.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Staying in a Colonial Williamsburg hotel is ideal. The Inn is elegant, gorgeous, friendly, with great service and a fabulous dining room. The Lodge recently went through an entire rebuilding/renovation project and is lovely, with a great restaurant (excellent breakfast buffet). Staying in one of the actual Colonial houses is also fun. During one visit when our kids were young, we stayed in a small house that was an actual slaves quarters in colonial times. There are also a couple of less expensive CW options.</p>

<p>Their length of stay will determine how much they can see. You need to purchase a pass to access most of the buildings and there are various options, depending on how long you’re there. The buildings that I would consider “don’t miss” would be The Capitol, the Governor’s Palace, the Bruton Parish Church, the Wythe House, the Peyton Randolph House and the Windmill. Eating in one of the Colonial Taverns is fun, and the food is authentic and good. Christiana Campbell’s is probably the most popular one, and we always have at least one meal there, but the King’s Arms is our favorite. Reservations are an absolute must. Tell your friends to stop in behind the Raleigh Tavern to the bakery to have a lemonade and some of their famous ginger cakes - a great place to sit on a bench and refresh yourself after walking around in the deadly Virginia summer heat!</p>

<p>At the end of the Duke of Gloucester St (the main st through the colonial area) is Merchant’s Square where there are many restaurants, shops, cafes, etc. The William and Mary bookstore is also there. Cross the street at the end of Merchant’s Square and enter the W&M campus - beautiful historic buildings which you can tour.</p>

<p>Other places to eat: our favorite Williamsburg restaurant is Berret’s, and yes, we’ve been to the Trellis and the Fat Canary. ;)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.berrets.com/[/url]”>http://www.berrets.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The College Delly on Richmond Rd. across from the W&M campus is also great for a casual lunch or dinner - good subs and pizza.</p>

<p>If they’re going to Jamestown, it’s nice to take the Jamestown ferry over to Surrey and have lunch at the Surrey House Restaurant. Great regional food - ham, peanut soup, and my kids always loved the Peanut Butter Board which had all the fixings for the most delicious peanut butter sandwich ever. We didn’t make it there this time but I’m hoping that it’s still there the next time we head down that way!</p>

<p>There is lots of great golf in Williamsburg, too, if your friends are interested. </p>

<p>I could go on and on about the place so if you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask here or email me! :)</p>

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<p>We are budget conscious so here are ideas of how we spend weekends there.</p>

<p>Washington, DC…my son is there now for the summer and we go frequently. I agree with mathmom that the Phillips is a treasure in the Dupont Circle area…like the Frick in NYC its scale does not overwhelm you…it is charming. Also the Woodrow Wilson home is near the Phillips and again, it is charming and not crowded. The Smithsonian can give you a buzz and overwhelm with noise, crowds and too much information but the National Gallery of Art is very serene and we always eat in their basement cafeteria with a waterfall. </p>

<p>The Holocaust Museum is excellent in presentation but not for the faint of heart or the very young. They do have a very good wing for younger students that is quite special.</p>

<p>A night in Alexandria is a refreshing experience…cobblestone streets, shopping to die for, great art gallery…but zero connections by Metro, so it is essentially Virginia.</p>

<p>Re Hotels. I use quikbook.com to scan for deals. The Capital Hill Suites is shabby but two blocks from the Library of Congress and location couldn’t be better so we use it and save money. They have plans to renovate immediately so ask about that first. In Dupont Circle, the two Jury Hotels will save you money and are well located. Also the Kimpton boutique hotels which have more personaltiy.
Dupont Circle is a good location because it is not dead at night like many other areas in DC…it has good walkaround places to eat and a crowd of walkers in the evenings. Metro stop is easy there to get to the Mall, but the Mall is dead after 5pm and there have been some robberies there for those who linger at night and walk it.<br>
If you are ONLY doing the Mall, which is a full day or two in itself, then stay at the Loews L’Enfant Plaza across from the Holocaust Museum and the Smithsonian…not much for places for dinner and it is ghostly empty federal workers buildings on weekends around there but there is a metro stop connected to the hotel and it really simplifies life on the Mall. Ask for a room with a Smithsonian view and voila, you never have to do anything but walk out the door and stroll. They have good weekend rates. We have also stayed at the Holiday Inn Smithsonian…which often has families with kids and can be a bit boisterous.</p>

<p>For elegant digs, pick the George or any other Kimpton Hotel and look for their reduced prices and specials. </p>

<p>There are other landmark hotels but they are not in our budget. Always ask if they have a “parking package” deal. This can make or break your price point in hotels. 34 dollars for overnight? oy. Lastly, there are hotels at Tysons Corner for much less with an easy place to park and ride the Metro into town. Lots of people go that route.</p>

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<p>Another approach to finding a cheap place to sleep in Washington, DC is not to actually sleep in Washington, DC.</p>

<p>There are quite a few decent hotels in the suburbs that are cheaper than most of the hotels in DC, with free parking at the hotel and shuttle buses to the nearest Metro station. If you’re willing to go out as far as Rockville or Gaithersburg in Maryland, you can get a nice room for about $100 per night on the weekends (the Gaithersburg Hilton is nice, and it’s a block from a shopping center with lots of cheap chain restaurants that are good for kids). Staying closer in, such as in Bethesda, is more expensive, but still not too bad on weekends. Weekday rates are much higher because these are predominantly business hotels.</p>

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<p>Thank you CC friends. Keep those suggestions coming!</p>

<p>(And I’ll be printing out this thread for safekeeping. It’s been 40 years since I was last in Washington DC–it’s a place I’d like to re-visit.)</p>

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<p>Washington - Go out to Georgetown, go down to the old canal (C&O Barge Canal?) and take a nice long walk or a bike ride if you can get wheels. It’s a nice way to get out of the city without going outside the Beltway.</p>

<p>Alexandria - Go to The Torpedo Factory Art Center. Great way to spend a few hours and you might find a deal on a piece of art that you can’t live without.</p>

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<p>Here is a little-known place to tour, lots of Americana in the collection:</p>

<p><a href=“http://receptiontours.state.gov/[/url]”>http://receptiontours.state.gov/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Bump–I’m staying in D.C. this summer and I’d love to hear more.</p>

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<p>Novelisto - Yes! I meant the Archive. I’ve never even been to the Library of Congress. Senior moments in my mid-forties… :(</p>

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<p>If you are there for the whole summer you can do some more out of the way things. Some suggestions (like the Torpedo factory in Arlington) I think already qualify. Dumbarton Oaks has a beautiful garden and pre-Columbian art collection. The Washington Cathedral is a fascinating attempt to recreate a gothic cathedral in the US. I was a docent there one summer and if I do say so myself, we gave a pretty good tour of the architecture. You can even do brass rubbings and I think listening to change ringing of the bells is really cool. <a href=“http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/music/bells.shtml[/url]”>http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/music/bells.shtml&lt;/a&gt; (Read Dorothy Sayer’s Nine Taylors.)</p>

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<p>I like Air and Space. Also not a lot of people go to American history but that one has some pretty cool stuff. The Hirshhorn (modernish art) is really cool and not on the usual tourist list. </p>

<p>Of the tourist stuff, Arlington National Cemetary (obviously on the Va side, but yeah) is pretty nice to visit. A lot of schools here go for grad-type activities toward the end of the year. If you’re willing to drive out a little, Manassas, Va is about 40 minutes away (without traffic, although unfortunately, there is always traffic in the DC area - but if you go on a weekend morning you’d do all right). There’s a lot of historical stuff there from the Civil war if you’re into that. Along those lines, Gettysburg, Pa isn’t far at all. We went up for a field trip last year and it only took about an hour and a half? Not too bad at all, and that place was really cool. </p>

<p>The National Arboretum is fabulous and underused. Not too far there is Hain’s Point (not sure of the spelling) which is really cool and has this statue that is bursting out of the ground in parts except they’re moving that apparently soon, not sure when. In early September or maybe sometimes late August there is this Solar Decathalon on the Mall, where college students build houses that run entirely on solar power and they live in them for a week or so and then they are open for the public to tour, which is pretty neat. </p>

<p>Georgetown is basically just cool. GWU is in Foggy Bottom if you’re looking to see schools. American is in the NW too, but it’s not that close to GW and Georgetown.</p>

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<p>Our last trip to DC was last summer when S attended a program at Georgetown. H and I stayed at the Watergate (reasonable rates summer midweek) and attended a program at the Kennedy Center. We had a terrific time.</p>

<p>Thank you, alwaysamom, for the great Williamsburg info…S will be at W&M starting in August and we are looking forward to visiting as often as he can stand us.</p>

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<p>Get a burger on Sunday (half price) from The Beacon Bar and Grill. Well, that is if you’re not a vegetarian.</p>

<p>They’re at 1615 Rhode Island Ave. NW.</p>

<p>Oh, and be prepared for Metro headaches. That’s what it’s there for-- to make you wish that America could figure out how to make mass transit work. :p</p>